Transparency/Core Measures: According to independent and validated research, New Hampshire hospitals have the highest rate of compliance in the country for providing the appropriate evidence-based processes of care for patients with heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia.  Consumers can review these data on www.nhqualitycare.org, the only website in the country which provides detailed data for every hospital on every CMS core measure.  You can also find information on patient reported experience of care.

New Hampshire Healthcare Quality Assurance Commission: Established in statute in 2005, New Hampshire hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers meet regularly to identify ways to work collaboratively to improve the quality and safety of patients by sharing best practices and engaging in candid conversation about the prevention of adverse events.  To date this group has focused on decreasing the rate of central line bloodstream infections, hand hygiene, and patient safety checklist.

Hand Hygiene – The ‘High Five’ Campaign: Every New Hampshire hospital has committed to achieving 100% compliance with appropriate hand hygiene practices in order to reduce the chance that patients and staff acquire a healthcare associated infection while receiving care.  The ‘High Five’ campaign commits the hospital to investing in the 5 pillars of best practice of the program which include:  Leadership Commitment, availability/convenience of products, hand hygiene training and competency, measurement, and accountability.

Patient Safety Alert Wristbands: New Hampshire joins a number of other states in the country which have standardized the colors used for patient safety alert wristbands.  Purple bands are used to indicate DNR status, Yellow is used to indicate that the patient is at risk for falling, and red is used to indicate that the patient has an allergy.  This initiative works to decrease the confusion when providers travel between institutions.

Patient Safety Checklist: New Hampshire hospitals have agreed to adopt a patient safety checklist in all procedural areas using a framework developed by the World Health Organization.   The checklist is designed to be simple, widely applicable and address common and potentially disastrous lapses at three points in a patient’s experience:  before the induction of anesthesia at patient sign in, before any skin incision if there is one, and before the patient leaves the procedural area.

STOP BSI: Ten NH hospitals have agreed to work with Dr. Peter Pronovost and his colleagues from Johns Hopkins University on a 2-year initiative to decrease central line bloodstream-associated infections in their Intensive Care Units.  The project, starting in 2009, will involve a technical component providing concise evidence-based recommendations on how to prevent these infections as well as an adaptive component which provides a framework for patient safety improvement at the local level.